Syria's Islamist-led government promised Druze leaders Tuesday that it would try those responsible after its security forces clashed with Druze fighters in a Damascus suburb, leaving 14 combatants dead.

In a deal reached with representatives from the mainly Druze and Christian suburb of Jaramana, authorities also promised measures to "put an end to incitement to sectarian and regional division", according to a text seen by AFP.

"An agreement has been reached," said Rabih Mounzer, a member of a civilian coordination group in Jaramana who was among the delegates.

A Syrian Islamist rebel ex-spokesman went on trial in France on Tuesday under the principle of universal jurisdiction, accused of complicity in war crimes during Syria's civil war.

As his trial opened, Majdi Nema, 36, told the court in Paris there was no evidence to back charges against him.

French authorities arrested Nema in the southern city of Marseille in 2020, after he travelled to the country on a student exchange programme.

The United States has lost seven multi-million-dollar MQ-9 Reaper drones in the Yemen area since March 15, a US official said Monday, as the Navy announced a costly warplane fell off an aircraft carrier into the Red Sea.

Washington launched the latest round of its air campaign against Yemen's Huthis in mid-March, and MQ-9s can be used for both reconnaissance -- a key aspect of US efforts to identify and target weaponry the rebels are using to attack shipping in the region -- as well as strikes.

A multi-million-dollar US warplane fell off the Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier into the Red Sea on Monday in an accident that injured one sailor, the Navy said.

A tractor that was towing the fighter plane -- a model that cost $67 million in 2021 -- also slipped off the ship into the sea.

"The F/A-18E was actively under tow in the hangar bay when the move crew lost control of the aircraft. The aircraft and tow tractor were lost overboard," the Navy said in a statement.

The UN's food and refugee agencies have warned of dire cuts to their services as funding plummets, especially from key donor the United States under President Donald Trump.

The UN World Food Programme (WFP) will cut staff by 25 to 30 percent as contributions to the global aid agency have dropped, according to an internal email seen Monday by AFP.

The head of the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) warned Monday that reduced contributions could force a one-third reduction in its activities, despite worldwide conflicts that continue to strain its resources.

Amnesty International on Tuesday accused Israel of committing a "live-streamed genocide" against Palestinians in Gaza by forcibly displacing most of the population and deliberately creating a humanitarian catastrophe.

In its annual report, Amnesty charged that Israel had acted with "specific intent to destroy Palestinians in Gaza, thus committing genocide".

Israel has rejected accusations of "genocide" from Amnesty, other rights groups and some states in its war in Gaza.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian met Monday with his Azerbaijani counterpart in a rare visit to Baku, the latest sign of a thaw in relations between the two neighbours.

Tensions between the two have run high for years, largely due to Azerbaijan's close ties with Iran's arch-enemy Israel, then further exacerbated by a January 2023 attack on Azerbaijan's embassy in Tehran.

A top Palestinian official told the International Court of Justice Monday that Israel was blocking humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza as a "weapon of war", at the start of a week of hearings at the UN's top court.

Israel is not participating at the ICJ but hit back immediately, dismissing the hearings as "part of the systematic persecution and delegitimisation" of the country.

Syrian armed group Jaish al-Islam said its leader was arrested upon arrival at Dubai airport several days ago as supporters gathered in Damascus to demand his release.

Since 2015, Issam Buwaydani has been head of Jaish al-Islam, a group that fought against the now-ousted ruler Bashar al-Assad and once controlled the Eastern Ghouta area near Damascus.

After Syria's new authorities announced the dissolution of armed groups following Assad's December overthrow, Jaish al-Islam was integrated into the new Syrian forces and Buwaydani became a defence ministry official.

Iran's interior minister on Monday blamed "negligence" for a massive explosion that killed 70 people at the country's largest commercial port, with firefighters still battling a blaze at the facility two days later.

The blast occurred on Saturday at the Shahid Rajaee Port in Iran's south, near the strategic Strait of Hormuz, a waterway through which one-fifth of global oil output passes.